I cannot believe that Summer 2017 is coming to a close. What a year it has been already! My last blog post is from June which marked the beginning of my season with Original Practice Shakespeare Festival. I've come a long way since June. Our first show of the season was A Midsommer Nights Dreame (first folio spelling because it's what we do). We just finished up our season the last weekend in August with The Comedie of Errors and Twelfe Night. We also had a cast party/secret show which our lovely dramaturg, Sarah Jane, wrote. She adapted a Shakespeare-inspired stage version of the classic board game and movie, Clue. It was so much fun! This blog is dedicated to the happens of my summer doing Shakespeare as well as, a glimpse into what comes next for me.
Golden Gate Bridge, San Fransisco, Ca.
July 2017
This summer was the busiest summer I've ever had. I started summer with a full-time job, an internship with a professional theatre company which included acting in half of their shows, living an hour and a half from the city where the shows were held, and having another part-time job. Oh, and I'm a wife, daughter, sister and most importantly, Auntie Kels. Luckily, Stuart started a new job this summer which allowed me to quit my part-time serving job at Red Robin in July. All in all, it was an insane summer. Would I have changed anything? Nah...
Being an intern with OPS Fest this summer was an amazing opportunity as an artist for me. I was able to work along-side veteran actors and learn about what goes into being apart of a professional company. Each week workshops were held on different topics. Voice, fight, improv and other techniques that were focused around how to implement them into the OPS world. It was so helpful to have these workshops not only for working with this company, but also taking these techniques into future auditions and productions.
OPS is such a unique type of acting, especially Shakespeare. The audience is extremely interactive, having an onstage prompter makes for funny improv scenes and being that this was my first time using a scroll onstage made from some silly mistakes. Learning from these mistakes has taught me the most. Like checking to make sure you're truly at the end of your scroll so you aren't being told your cue line 2-3 times from the prompter or making sure that you don't accidentally change costumes too soon.
I feel like I rocked this summer. I was able to work full-time, go on two short vacations, have an anniversary weekend away and still do my shows for the season without a (complete) mental breakdown. There were weeks I rarely saw my husband, but I can say the experience was worth it. The hard work has given me perspective and a glimpse into the life of a professional actor. Now I want more.
Finishing out this season has been so fun and I'm so thankful for all the new friends I've made. Now I am looking forward into the future and my next steps. As of now, I am not booked for any shows during fall or winter. Even having this last week or so without any theatre commitments has felt strange. I've been reading, catching up on housework, making every meal at home and spending quality time with my amazingly supportive hubby. The time I've allowed myself to have at home has been relaxing and therapeutic for my mental and physical health. I'm so thankful for this time at home. But as a woman who pushes herself to be successful and never stop working, I have got to get back to business. I am challenging myself to blog once a week and reading books over spending an hour on social media. I have acting workshops I will be attending because I never want to stop learning and molding my craft. I am brainstorming an original play I plan on finishing in the next year, as well as, a book idea that I'm so excited about. There's always more to come people!
Stay up-to -date with everything I'm working on by following my blog and social media posts as I am going to do better at posting about my work. Thank you again to everyone who has supported and inspired me this summer (and always).
I love you all.
Kelsea Ashenbrenner
P.S.
I'm heading to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival next week so check in with me for reviews on the shows and updates about my time in Ashland with my Shakes and Co. roomie, (bestie for life) Isabelle.
San Fransisco, Ca.
July 2017